Man Aims to Control Times Square’s Screens Without Use of Shenanigans

March 22, 2011

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: a man attempts to project content from his cell phone onto a giant screen in Times Square. Actually, don’t stop us; we reported earlier this month about two men who made a viral video in which they did just that. It turned out to be a clever marketing ploy for the movie Limitless. The men eventually told us how they pulled the stunt off, but the purported technology they faked was thought to be impossible. Until now(?)

The New York Times reports that tonight at 8 p.m., 27-year-old Canadian inventor Adi Isakovic is going to attempt to project images from his mobile phone onto a screen on West 47th Street and Seventh Avenue. An advertising firm has allotted him time to demonstrate this supposed technology that, even up until last week, was considered almost comically advanced:

[Mr. Isakovic’s] company wants to allow people to use their phones as universal remotes, controlling not only their televisions and home security systems, but also public screens in elevators, on stadium scoreboards and, of course, in Times Square. It is a vision whose potential applications remain cloudy, but Mr. Isakovic says he believes that interactive public screens will be increasingly integrated into campaigns by advertisers looking to engage potential consumers directly.

At 8 p.m. we’ll all know whether or not Mr. Isakovic is a genius who can control giant screens with his pocket-sized cell phone, or just another hoaxster. Either way, we’re still not seeing Limitless.